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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27254737">And Many More</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/catrasredemption'>catrasredemption (dimensionhoppingrose)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Here We Are (after the war) [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>And in love, Catra doesn't need a hug but she gets a million anyway, Catra's Birthday, F/F, Fluff, Glimmer and Bow are great friends really, Good old best friend squad bonding, SO MUCH FLUFF, adora is adorable, happy catra, like oh god the fluff, she loves Catra so much, they're both dorks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:27:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,909</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27254737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/catrasredemption</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“<em>Happy birthday</em>!”</p><p>Catra <em>would </em>have jolted out of bed, if not for the heavy thing lying on top of her. Adora. She had been smart enough to realize that scaring Catra out of a dead sleep was a bad idea.</p><p>“What… What the fuck?” she managed to mumble blearily, blinking to try and focus on Bow and Glimmer. “I <em>told</em> you guys—”</p><p>“We know, no party,” Glimmer said. “We just thought it’d be fun to do something you enjoy!”</p><p>“I <em>was</em> doing something I enjoy.”</p><p>“Something <em>else</em>.”</p><p>----------------------</p><p>Glimmer and Bow are determined to give Catra a good "first" birthday. Adora is a good girlfriend. Catra is exasperated (but loves these nerds anyway)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora &amp; Bow &amp; Catra &amp; Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow &amp; Catra (She-Ra), Catra &amp; Glimmer (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Here We Are (after the war) [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2268614</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>521</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>She-Ra</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>And Many More</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I mean, it's Catra's birthday, I had to do SOMETHING. This is totally unbetaed because I wrote it while working. Maybe I'll edit it later. I'll delete this if I do.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Birthdays weren’t a concept in the Fright Zone. And it was one of the few things Catra, frankly, was happy she had missed out on in her childhood. They’d celebrated Bow’s birthday not long after the war ended, and the whole thing seemed miserable. Well, not the cake part. But the party, and everyone singing, and <em>people</em>…</p><p>Pass.</p><p>“Guys!”</p><p>Adora and Catra jumped as Glimmer appeared in the room, excited. They were working on cleaning out the forge, which was still a mess from Hordak’s and Catra’s… <em>small disagreement</em>. “Guess what I found!” Glimmer said happily, waving a manila folder at them.</p><p>“A file?” Catra guessed.</p><p>“Yes, specifically, a <em>medical </em>file. <em>Your </em>medical file, which has your birthdate listed. It’s next week!”</p><p>Catra groaned, resting her face in her hand. “Sparkles, <em>please</em>—”</p><p>“Come on, it’s a big deal!” Glimmer hugged Catra, grinning.</p><p>“Yeaaaaaaaah, let’s all celebrate that I made it to twenty-two,” Catra said with a snort.</p><p>“It <em>is</em> kind of impressive,” Adora pointed out. “Considering all the different times you’ve almost died.”</p><p>“Watch it, if she found mine, she’ll find yours, and you have <em>way</em> more near-death experiences to make fun of.”</p><p>“Oh, I found Adora’s. Her birthday is in a couple months.”</p><p>“Oh.” Adora looked a little less thrilled. “Great.”</p><p>Catra made a mental note to talk with Glimmer later about not going crazy for Adora’s birthday.</p><p>“Can we not with the birthday? Please? I really don’t need any of… that. It’s not a big deal. Staying alive isn’t that hard. <em>Don’t</em>,” she added pointedly when Glimmer and Adora both opened their mouths to say otherwise. “It’s just another day. No big deal.”</p>
<hr/><p>“<em>Those ears</em>!” Bow squealed. Glimmer had brought the file home, along with all the pictures from Catra’s yearly physicals. Catra had left in absolute disgust when Glimmer brought those out. “Were they as soft as I think they were?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Adora said with a stupid little grin. She’d always been unreasonably smug about being the only person allowed to touch Catra’s ears. “They were like… like one of Glimmer’s stuffed animals.”</p><p>Bow grinned, looking at another photo. Glimmer peered at the door, then looked at Adora. “Okay, so obviously we’re doing <em>something</em> for her birthday, right?”</p><p>“Um…” Adora chewed on her thumbnail, hesitating. “I don’t know. You know how she is about attention.”</p><p>As weird as it was, Catra <em>hated</em> being the center of attention. Apparently all that showboating through the years had just been for… well, show. Not that she let others take credit for her work, but if the attention was unnecessary, she was happy to step back.</p><p>“I know, I know, no parties, but like… <em>something</em>? Aren’t we supposed to be helping her realize she deserves nice things too?”</p><p>It was an unspoken rule, mostly between Bow and Glimmer, that they gently pushed Adora and Catra toward being more accepting of things — presents, love, good stuff. And of course they worked with one to help the other.</p><p>“And birthdays are the <em>biggest</em> self indulgence,” Bow added. “They’re meant to be fun and all about you!”</p><p>“But we can probably tone it back so we don’t freak Catra out,” Glimmer added with a small smile. “Maybe something with just the four of us? What does Catra like to do for fun? Besides sleep.”</p><p>Fun wasn’t <em>exactly</em> something they had much of in the Horde. Adora frowned, tilting her head for a minute and thinking. “Climbing. And jumping. She managed to make it to the top of the forge by the time she was ten. She usually went up there when she didn’t want to talk to anyone, but she also just loved jumping around, you know?”</p><p>Bow tilted his head, then grinned. “I know <em>exactly</em> what we can do.”</p>
<hr/><p>“<em>Happy birthday</em>!”</p><p>Catra <em>would </em>have jolted out of bed, if not for the heavy thing lying on top of her. Adora. She had been smart enough to realize that scaring Catra out of a dead sleep was a bad idea.</p><p>“What… What the fuck?” she managed to mumble blearily, blinking to try and focus on Bow and Glimmer. “I <em>told</em> you guys—”</p><p>“We know, no party,” Glimmer said. “We just thought it’d be fun to do something you enjoy!”</p><p>“I <em>was</em> doing something I enjoy.”</p><p>“Something <em>else</em>.”</p><p>“Come ooooon, just give us a chance,” Adora insisted, hugging Catra tight. “Please?”</p><p>Catra groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Okay, okay.”</p><p>She was still grumpy as she climbed out of bed, though. “Anything in particular I should wear?”</p><p>“Something you’re comfortable in.”</p><p>Well, that was easy. Catra dressed in her usual clothes, saying, “So what—”</p><p>Adora grabbed her hand, and then they were teleporting. “I should’ve known that was coming,” Catra groaned, leaning over to rest her hands on her knees. “Why do you hate me?”</p><p>“You’re so dramatic,” Adora teased, rubbing her back. “Deep breaths, you’re fine…”</p><p>Catra took a minute to orient herself before looking up. They were standing in front of a mountain. A rather large mountain with several peaks. She blinked a few times, tilting her head.</p><p>“We thought mountain climbing would be fun.” There was a wave of anxiety in Adora’s voice as she clearly worried she’d messed this up. “‘Cause, you know, you’re always scaling buildings and trying to get up high and Bow said this is really fun and, well, I guess it was kind of stupid, just because you like climbing buildings doesn’t mean—”</p><p>She was interrupted by Catra elbowing her lightly in the chest, grinning wickedly. “Bet I can climb higher than you,” she declared before running off. Adora gaped in offense.</p><p>“You <em>wish</em>! Cheater!”</p><p>Bow and Glimmer watched her go after Catra, shaking their heads and smiling fondly. “I think we nailed this.”</p><p>“Same.”</p><p>Adora was eventually forced to admit that, unlike Catra, she <em>did</em> need some safety equipment. Catra watched from a narrow ledge, smirking, as Bow helped her get set up. “It must suck to be human,” she called, tail swishing lazily. Adora glared up at her.</p><p>“I don’t care if it’s your birthday, I will still kick your ass.”</p><p>“Like you can catch me.”</p><p>It was a fun, if not somewhat exhausting, morning. Catra maintained a steady pace ahead of the mere mortals, jumping from impossible foothold to impossible foothold like she was climbing stairs. “Catraaaaa,” Adora called, frowning. “Can you slow down a little?”</p><p>“Why? Feel bad you can’t keep up?”</p><p>Actually, she was starting to get a little nervous about high up they were. She hadn’t considered it, but watching Catra jump, then looking back at how far the ground was, brought to mind images of Catra standing on a ledge, convulsing as electricity ran up and down her spine, falling…</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>Glimmer tapped Adora’s shoulder, dragging her back to reality. “You okay?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Adora blew out a long breath, smiling. “I’m fine.”</p><p>“Would you guys hurry up?” Catra had made it to the first rest point; she was leaning over the edge, hand on her cheek, other arm dangling over the edge. “I see <em>someone </em>was already here to set up a picnic.”</p><p>“Would it kill you to appreciate that Bow and I have been up since <em>three</em> getting things ready?” Glimmer huffed as she hauled herself over the edge, Adora and Bow right behind her.</p><p>“What, you want a hug or something?”</p><p>“Are you offering?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Too bad!” Glimmer tackled her, hugging her tight. Bow followed suit, laughing as she demanded they let go.</p><p>Eventually they got to eat. Catra frowned when she saw the offerings. “Mini cupcakes?” Then realization hit. “You told Entrapta.”</p><p>“Oh, uh… yeah, there’s a second part to the surprise,” Bow said with a nervous chuckle. “We knew you didn’t want a big party or anything, but everyone would’ve felt bad if they—”</p><p>“You told the entire Princess Alliance, didn’t you?” The others nodded. “And there are little presents from all of them all the way up the mountain.” More nodding. Catra considered the cupcake for a minute, then shrugged and popped it in her mouth. “And there’s <em>no</em> surprise party at any point?”</p><p>“Definitely not. We swear.”</p><p>Catra shot Adora a look. She smiled. “No party. Promise.”</p><p>That seemed to relax Catra a bit. They enjoyed their first stop, resting for awhile before resuming the climb. “Wait.” Adora looked at Glimmer as they prepared to follow Catra. “There isn’t a stop for <em>every</em> princess, right?”</p><p>“Of course not, do I look like I want to die today? Some of them got doubled up.”</p><p>The next stop was Perfuma, who had made a bunch of different relaxation oils and incenses. Catra hated to admit they worked, but she couldn’t deny results. Glimmer helpfully sent the gift back to their room so they could continue unencumbered.</p><p>Scorpia and Frosta were next. They had teamed up to create a photo album — Scorpia knew Catra didn’t have any real photos from her childhood, and she knew how it felt to have those memories close, so it had seemed natural. Frosta had done most of the actually creating while Scorpia gathered photos — some old, from the Super Pal Trio’s Horde days (where Catra didn’t look completely miserable), but most were from the last few months since they’d defeated Prime. And there was room for plenty more.</p><p>Catra did a great job of pretending not to cry as she handed it to Glimmer to send back to Bright Moon.</p><p>Spinnerella and Netossa came after that. Apparently they had noticed Catra’s tendency to fidget and doodle during meetings, and had gotten her a few harmless, noiseless trinkets to play with and keep herself occupied, as well as a tiny sketchpad. “Great, another reason for you to not pay attention,” Glimmer teased as Catra fiddled with a little cube. She knew Catra was always listening and absorbing information, even if it didn’t seem like it.</p><p>The final stop was Mermista, who had provided fish for a meal to wrap up their climb. Catra finished eating first, wandering to the edge of the ledge and looking down.</p><p>“You okay?” Adora asked, kneeling beside her.</p><p>“Yeah. I was just… thinking.” Adora was surprisingly patient while she waited for Catra to get her thoughts together. “Ever since Prime… ya know… heights have been kind of tricky. Sometimes I’ll be up somewhere high and feel like I’m… I don’t know. Out of my body. One of the Mystacor healers said it’s dissociating. And usually Melog is with me to snap me out of it, but it’s still kind of freaky.” She looked up at Adora, smiling. “I haven’t felt it at all today, though. It feels like I’ve been more… in control, I guess? It’s felt <em>nice</em>.”</p><p>Adora beamed, hugging her tight and kissing her temple. “I’m glad,” she said quietly. Catra wiggled to get an arm around Adora and return the hug.</p><p>“You guys ready to go?” Glimmer asked. Bow had packed up the last of the picnic. Catra groaned.</p><p>“No, but sure.”</p><p>Adora kept an arm around her waist to keep her upright when they arrived back in the bedroom. “Just let me die,” Catra groaned, collapsing on the bed.</p><p>“<em>So </em>dramatic. Come on, we’re not done yet.”</p><p>“We’re not?” Catra rolled, frowning, then raised an eyebrow when she saw a small table with wrapped presents and a cake, candles flickering.</p><p>“You didn’t seriously think we were going to<em> not</em> do cake today, did you?” Bow asked in mock offense. “It’s a birthday staple!”</p><p>“You know what else is a birthday staple?” Glimmer’s smile was downright evil as she began singing. “<em>Happy birthday to yooooou</em>.”</p><p>“Nope!” Catra grabbed a pillow, clutching to her head, while Bow and Adora chimed in. “None of you can carry a tune, stop!”</p><p>She refused to look out until they were done, then blew out the candles on the birthday cake. “What’re the presents?” she asked curiously as Bow cut the cake. “I thought everyone’s thing was on the mountain.”</p><p>“Okay, first of all, I’m insulted that you think <em>we</em> wouldn’t get something for you,” Glimmer said, smirk betraying her. “And there were a few other people who wanted to throw gifts in too, so we figured we’d save a few for cake time.”</p><p>“How many people did you <em>tell</em>?”</p><p>Glimmer shrugged, and Catra sighed. “Oh, oh, open my first!” Bow said excitedly, grabbing a box for Catra. She carefully opened it, revealing two little wooden figurines — herself and Melog. “I made one for all of us and I realized you need one too and obviously Melog needs one and and and are you crying?”</p><p>“No!” Catra protested, possibly too loudly. She had seen theirs, of course — Adora kept hers on her dresser, and Bow’s and Glimmer’s were on a shelf in their room. It had never occurred to her that it had probably been a silly friend thing Bow had done.</p><p>A silly friend thing she was part of now.</p><p>“Here, I’ll put them with mine,” Adora said, kissing the top of Catra’s head and grabbing the figurines to put them in their new home.</p><p>“This one’s from Aunt Casta,” Glimmer said cheerfully, giving Catra a distraction. It was a red wool cap with holes for her ears. “She was making you a hat anyway since you mentioned hating the cold and it’s probably hard to find things that accommodate cat ears, so she just moved it up on her project list.”</p><p>Catra wasn’t sure what surprised her more — that Castaspella had taken the time to make her something, or that she had even noted Catra’s complaints about cold weather. She eyed it for a long moment, fingers feeling the soft fabric, before trying it on. Bow let out a hushed, “<em>So cute</em>.” Adora returned to scratch one of Catra’s exposed ears.</p><p>“Does it fit all right?”</p><p>“Yeah, it feels great.” And it did. It was soft and it didn’t pinch her ears and her head already felt warm.</p><p>“Oh good, she had to guess at sizes, so she’ll be happy.” Glimmer reached for another box as Catra tugged the hat off. “This one’s from me and Dad.”</p><p>It was a charm, shaped like a cat head, with strings of magic woven through it. “It’s for help with sleeping,” Glimmer explained as Catra gently turned it over. “You can keep it next to your bed or hang it up or whatever — as long as its near you, it’ll help you sleep, and stay asleep. It <em>might</em> even help Adora stop sleep fighting.”</p><p>“That’s <em>possible?</em>” Catra snorted. Adora stuck her tongue out. “This is awesome, Spar — <em>Glimmer</em>.” The queen practically teared up at the sound of her actual name. “Thanks. All of you, really. This has been a pretty great day.”</p><p>“<em>Catra</em>. Was that sincerity I heard in your voice?” Glimmer teased. Catra shoved her away, smiling.</p><p>“Don’t get used to it, Sparkles.”</p><p>The long day of mountain climbing caught up to everyone fast. They ate a bit of cake before Glimmer dragged Bow off for bed, both calling a sleepy, “Happy birthday,” over their shoulders. Catra and Adora both changed for bed, Catra pinning the charm up above them before happily snuggling in and waiting for the best part of the day — falling asleep in Adora’s arms.</p><p>But Adora was standing next to the bed, fidgeting. “I didn’t forget,” she said suddenly, rushing the words out. “I mean, I got you something too.”</p><p>It hadn’t even occurred to Catra to wonder about that. “Okay? This isn’t gonna be some lame thing where you rip off your clothes and say you’re the present, right?”</p><p>Adora turned red. “N-No! Of course not, that’s — no.” Catra raised an eyebrow. “Right. So um… I guess this is still kinda dumb, that’s why I wanted to do it alone, but I uh… um…”</p><p>She sat down on the edge of the bed, taking Catra’s hand and pressing something into her palm. Her Bright Moon pin, Catra saw as she took her hand back.</p><p>“I know we said we were going to take things slow and get to know each other again, and I’ve really liked that, and I want to keep doing it.” Adora was talking like she expected to be interrupted at any moment. “But I also know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I know it’s silly, but this is kind of a… thing… you know, like, you give someone something of yours, something they can wear, when you know you want to be with them, and this is so stupid, I’m sorry, this was horrible timing, I should’ve—”</p><p>Catra grabbed Adora’s shirt and dragged her close, kissing her. It was a slow, lingering moment — Catra cupped her cheeks, the knuckles of her right hand (which was holding the pin) brushing against Adora’s skin.</p><p>Adora was blinking rapidly when Catra pulled away. “You want to spend the rest of your life with me? That’s so embarrassing for you.”</p><p>And the moment broke. Adora burst out laughing, shoving Catra back. They fell onto the bed together, wrapped in each other’s arms, warm and comfortable.</p><p>“So… you’ll wear it?” Adora asked after a moment.</p><p>“Of course, dummy. Every day.” She scooted to place it safely on the nightstand now before rolling to press against Adora. “I love you.”</p><p>The blonde let out a sigh of relief. “I love you too. Happy birthday.”</p><p>Okay, Catra thought as she closed her eyes. <em>Maybe</em> she could get used to this.</p>
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